Editorial Music & Art Humour News And Views Guest Column Making a Difference Reflections Voice It Prev Issue Next Issue

I find myself enchanted by the wonderful faces of life. I believe NO ONE can remain under the shadow of darkness for long. We humans are not made to suffer the pains and agonies of life. Our mind is such a powerful creation of Nature that it can overcome any suffering, any sorrows in due time. I had a brief glimpse of this, a few days back….

I had gone to college, for my Project work; we were working on some bacterial isolation in our Microbiology lab. It had been a long day for me, morning 9:00 to evening 6:00. Most of the time, I had been on my feet, running here and there. In the end, after the days work was over, I bid farewell to my friends and headed for the station.

I was standing on the platform, waiting for my train. As most Mumbaiites would know, in the evening, the Down locals are jam-packed and you can just manage, if lucky, to get a place large enough to squeeze through. I waited patiently, for my train to arrive, and when the crowded metal box finally came 15 minutes late, somehow, I managed to get in.

Now the pressure was from all directions. The fans above were not working and that made the monsoon weather all the more humid. People were trying to crush each other to suffocation limit, to get a place for themselves. Already tired, I mixed myself homogeneously with the group of still tired people in my compartment.

My eyes were already drooping. It was to be a 35 minute journey, and so, what else to do but to sleep? With one hand holding the metal handles at the top, and the other holding my bag, I closed my eyes for a short nap.

As the next station arrived, there were sounds of discomfort as the new passengers got in. I saw a dozen faces with looks as if they had been subjected to 3rd degree torture. Two people started quarrelling over a small bit of place, and words started steaming the already hot air. I couldn’t hear their conversation, as I was feeling a lot exhausted and wanted to go to sleep.

Stations after stations passed. My station was to come next. So I edged myself to the doorway, and stood there. Already, the atmosphere in the compartment was tense. Over 250 people were packed in a place large enough for 120. My aching body was on the verge of dropping down, and the sweet images of bed calmed me down a bit. But my eyelids wouldn’t let me forget my tiredness.

Suddenly from nowhere, a sound fell on my ears. Someone was singing slowly! As I turned around, I saw that a man had come behind me, and was reciting some old unknown song…

I observed that person for a while. He had dirty red shirt, with the first two buttons broken, on his body. Though he didn’t seem that old, his face was wrinkled and rugged and unkempt. He had some sacred thread around his neck.

That person could well have been a manual labourer, who toiled from day to night, with a wife and a few kids at home, to look after, to feed. His wrinkled face showed his pains, sufferings, and depressions he had had from time to time. His whitened hair were indications of his long lost youth and periods of troubles and turbulences in his life. That he had had his share of enjoyment, now the days of toiling day and night had come, was crystal clear from his appearance…

Still the man was singing!! And that too, some old song, with Who-Knows-What lyrics!! Slowly, his face broadened into a small smile, as he remembered his days of youth, of seeing that gorgeous lady Rekha in cinemas. Maybe, he remembered his mother who had sent him to school to study…to be educated, get a degree and earn a lot. Maybe, he remembered his first love, and the long strolls they had had in the parks…

I felt ashamed on seeing him. His cup of woes was overflowing, and yet he was happy, and me…I was feeling tired after one day of hard work…I looked at the other creatures in the train. All had depressing faces, and this man?…he had a very serene expression…

We experience a lot of difficulties in our lives, a humongous number of turbulences, but how to fare through the rough weather is entirely left to us. We can decide to whine and complain and feel sad, or we can decide to live life life’s way. Finally, it all breaks down to choices…and the our selection of choice creates our destiny….

My station approached and I got down on the platform, the man alighted behind me. I paused a moment to have a look at the person who had taught me so much between two stations. I looked at him as he bent down & folded his pants at the bottom, to ensure that they don’t catch any wet mud on his way to home, and started walking on his path again……

View and Post comment on this article